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This chapter provides an overview of the commercial sex industry
in the United States and internationally, with attention to the impact of legal responses and organizational features in shaping
women's experiences within prostitution, particularly their
experiences of violence.

Abstract:

Although the authors use the terms "prostitution" and "sex work"
interchangeably throughout this chapter, they nonetheless
recognize prostitution as a form of sexual labor and sex workers
as human agents despite their subjection to stigma,
victimization, and exploitation. Without taking an ethical
position on the legitimacy of prostitution or its functions in
support of patriarchal capitalism, this chapter focuses on the
legal, social, and economic conditions under which prostitution
occurs within racist, patriarchal, capitalist systems. The
authors address how these conditions promote and contribute to
violence against sex workers. Four legal paradigms have guided
the legal response to prostitution: prohibition, abolition,
legalization/regulation, and decriminalization. The prohibition
model is widely believed to be the most oppressive for sex
workers. This approach leaves women with no legal apparatus to
defend themselves. Rarely do States enforce laws against
traffickers, pimps, or clients, although women are routinely
subjected to arrest and incarceration. The abolitionist approach
calls for the elimination of laws against prostitution itself.
Legalization/regulation is the predominant approach in a number
of Western countries. Decriminalization is the paradigm advocated
by many sex workers' rights organizations. In contrast to the
abolitionist model, the argument for decriminalization emphasizes
that prostitution is work and rejects the notion that sex workers
are by definition victims. This model aims to criminalize
exploitation, coercion, and violence against sex workers by third parties, while defining sex work as a legitimate occupation. With the exception of several counties in Nevada, prostitution remains criminalized in the United States. In 1996 there were 48,591
arrests of women for prostitution or commercialized vice in the
United States. A common thread in the organization and control of
the sex industry is that it is characterized by gender, race, and
class inequalities, as well as power imbalances that result from
colonial and imperialist relations across nations. In recent
years, there have been a number of significant shifts in the
organization of the commercial sex industry, each relevant to
women's experience of violence within prostitution. In the United
States the arrival of crack cocaine in urban markets in the
mid-1980's altered the condition under which sex work is
performed. Internationally, there has been an increased
development and expansion of sex industries that cater primarily
to Western and Japanese men who travel to Third World countries
for business or leisure activities. This has been accompanied by
an increase in trafficking of individuals for prostitution and
the widespread involvement of children in the sex-tourism
industry. As a consequence of conditions of illegal confinement
and forced labor, women are subject to a range of abuses,
including physical and sexual assault, as well as exposure to HIV
and other sexually transmitted diseases. Health care is minimal,
and women who contract diseases are often discarded. Most
activists and researchers agree that the key to improving the
situation of women in the sex trade is to recognize the
legitimacy of their work and to sanction those who exploit them.
5 notes and 80 references

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